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I am using GMail with Outlook 2013, configured as IMAP. When I select and delete multiple messages from Outlook, they are removed from the inbox and are moved to Trash. After, I do "Empty Folder" on the Gmail\Trash folder and switch folders multiple times, GMail (web interface) still shows some of those deleted messages in the GMail inbox.

My settings are: GMail: Auto-Expunge on.
Outlook: Default IMAP settings (I have not modified adjusted any settings).

The goal is to have the Inbox in Outlook and the GMail Inbox be consistent and in-sync. Considering the purpose of IMAP, this should be the default behavior.

What is going on? Any help would be appreciated.

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  • How long are you waiting between checking? I know if I delete something from my phone, it takes a few minutes before the web reflects the change, and vice versa.
    – Kruug
    Mar 22, 2013 at 20:52
  • I have tried various time periods. From checking immediately to waiting till the next day. Mar 22, 2013 at 20:55
  • I see the same behavior. I'll delete messages in Outlook 2013, but they'll remain in my inbox on gmail.com and other devices (all using IMAP). Mar 30, 2013 at 18:35

3 Answers 3

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I finally found an acceptable way to deal with this Gmail/Outlook 2013 issue.

  1. Go into your Gmail settings at gmail.com. Under When I mark a message in IMAP as deleted set Auto-Expunge to off. Then set When a message is marked as deleted... to Move the message to the Trash (or something else, if you prefer). Click Save Changes. Gmail Settings

  2. In Outlook 2013, click on your Gmail inbox. Then, at the very top of Outlook, click on Folder. You'll see Purge in the toolbar area in the middle. Click Purge then click Purge Options. Select the Advanced tab. Uncheck both checkboxes under Delete Items. Click Ok. (Note that checking the option "Purge items when switching folders while online" doesn't seem to have any effect with this setup.) Outlook 2013 Settings

  3. Now when you receive and then delete a new email in Outlook, Gmail will put that email in your Trash folder. Gmail also gives that email the Trash tag, but it does not remove the Inbox tag.

This isn't 100% ideal, as the Inbox tag remains on the email. However, since it does receive the Trash tag and ends up in your trash (and does not appear in your Inbox nor in All Mail) this is acceptable to me. Gmail deletes all items in the Trash folder when those items are 30 days old. I also cross checked this with my phone (an iPhone). From what I can tell, everything behaves as I would expect.

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  1. DELETING the messages in Outlook 2013 (hitting delete or clicking the big "X" on the Outlook Ribbon) will then move them to the [GMAIL] > TRASH folder:

    enter image description here

  2. then you can PERMANENTLY DELETE them from the [GMAIL] > TRASH in Outlook AND in GMail, by clicking PURGE > TRASH FOLDER from the Outlook Ribbon

  3. Make sure that your GMail IMAP settings look like this (Folder Size Limits can be whatever you'd like):
    enter image description here

  4. Make sure your Outlook IMAP settings look like this:

    enter image description here

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It seems that Outlook marks files ready for deletion on the IMAP server but they're only deleted once the purge command is sent. I'm guessing sometimes you close Outlook after you've deleted the files and before the purge command is sent and then the intent to send the purge command is lost.

I found this information from Microsoft.

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  • thank you for your answer. However, the using the purge method, mentioned in the link, does not remedy the situation. It still behaves the same way. Mar 24, 2013 at 19:45

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